Contrasting the Obama and Bush Christmases

George W. Bush spent 12 Christmases at Camp David, four with his father, and 8 with his family when he was in the White House.  That is one hour and 18 minutes from DC. Obama and family have spent 17 days (so far) in Hawaii this Christmas and New Year’s, and I’m all for that—we haven’t had to listen to his boring speeches as his signature legislation falls apart and the Department of Justice attacks the Little Sisters of the Poor.

http://aboutcampdavid.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-at-camp-david.html

Christmas 2008 at Camp David

January 4 update on New Year’s Resolutions

           

My resolutions are several, but one is to learn the books of the Old Testament, and one to clean several shelves a day, another to ride the exercycle 5 minutes a day.  These follow the specific, targeted, achievable, and timed plan I mentioned earlier. My resolutions will run through Jan. 31. I’ll rethink it for February. 31 days is a whole lot easier than 356.

I’ve done 3.5 book shelves (I always stop to read things which really slows me down), and by limiting the exercise to 5 minutes, I always go over the goal target.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon . . . This is how far I’ve gotten.

Not so set, are some thoughts to see more movies,  use our Museum of Art membership more, and possibly join the Columbus Conservatory—but see how vague those are.  That’s how resolutions get away from you.

Here’s a list of the top ten “spiritually literate movies” of 2013. That doesn’t necessarily mean Christian, but movies that address spiritual values—forgiveness, love, transformation, repentance.  That beats car chases, naked sex, and bad language any day.

So here’s a January resolution.  See one movie (I always feel so culturally illiterate when people talk about movies). I think Philomena will be my first choice, but the price of first run tickets is breath taking!

Update on the update: I have now finished all the shelves in my office. Dusted and rearranged. Books hate to be out of subject order, and when shelves are stationery, some have to lie down.

Something to try for the New Year munchies

Banana oatmeal cookies.

How Miranda came to love Maggie

For January book club (the group has been together for about 30 years, but I joined in 2000 when I retired), we are reading There is no alternative, why Margaret Thatcher matters (2008).  Thatcher was apparently quite a charmer and flirt with the men, but not that popular with women who decided she really didn’t like women.  The wife of John Hoskyns, one of her advisors, was a liberal when she first met Margaret Thatcher—very left wing, a Marxist chimes in her husband in an interview with Claire Berlinski, the author of the book.  Miranda says in an interview:

“She represented everything having to do with my own parents’ generation.  To do with middle-class values, behaving properly, wearing hats—all the kinds of things that I was longing to throw away.  Because the 60s—although I was already married and having children—in the 60s, I was thrilled with everything being overthrown. . . I wasn’t involved in it very much, but seen from the outside I thought it was a very good thing.  And she represented, as she did to everybody on the Left, the absolute antithesis of that.  She had nothing to do with that world of the 60s.  And I was in a very uncomfortable position, because I was beginning to see that John was right about what he was saying (he was conservative), or or at least my brain told me he was right.  My emotions told me he was all wrong, and he didn’t understand.  He kept saying, ‘How do you  think somebody like me, who’s an entrepreneur, can possibly make his way in the world with taxes and everything like that,’ and I kept arguing back, ‘Well, it’s your choice, you do it because you like doing it, you don’t mind about profits, they don’t matter,’ you know, all that sort of stuff.  I mean—I was pretty silly.”

Whether it was her husband’s sound logic, or Maggie’s charm, she comes around to seeing her as courageous, but with faults (not liking women) and correct in her political views.

Me too.

There are thousands of unclassified secret documents here.

Government gangs up on Little Sisters of the Poor

Little Sisters of the Poor vs. Obama/Sebilius: "The Little Sisters of the Poor arrived in America in 1868. Currently, there are thirty homes in the United States where the elderly and dying are treated as if they were Jesus himself and cared for with love and dignity until God calls them home. The Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor people in thirty-one countries around the world." And the U.S. government plans to punish and fine them for not providing contraception and abortifacients--because they aren't religious enough to get an exemption.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367509/central-deception-obama-administrations-case-against-little-sisters-poor-david-french

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/03/259378425/nuns-objection-to-health-care-law-is-unwarranted-justice-says

Save this for your next cold and sore throat

Seventeen tips from Reader’s Digest.

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/sore-throat-remedies-home-gargles/?

My mother swore by the salt and warm water gargle. Five shakes of ground cayenne pepper (or a few shakes of hot sauce) to a cup of hot water for sore throat relief is not one I’m familiar with. Tumeric and water I’ve heard of—it is supposed to be a powerful antioxidant, and scientists think it has the power to fight many serious diseases. For a sore throat remedy, mix 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into 1 cup of hot water and gargle.

And 14 others.

The war on women is a war on babies

Harvard Medical School on health goals/resolutions

1. “Set a very specific goal. For example: I will add one fruit serving — that’s half a cup, chopped — to my current daily diet.
2. Find a way to measure progress. For example, I will log my efforts each day on my calendar.
3. Make sure it’s achievable. For example, don’t set a goal of a daily 5 mile run if you’re out of shape. If you can’t safely or reasonably accomplish your goal, set a smaller, achievable one.
4. Make sure it’s realistic. It may seem counterintuitive, but choosing the change you most need to make — let’s say, quitting smoking or losing weight — isn’t as successful as choosing the change you’re most confident you’ll be able to make. Focus on sure bets: if you picture a 10-point scale of confidence in achieving your goal, where 1 equals no confidence and 10 equals 100% certainty, you should land in the 7-to-10 zone. An additional fruit serving a day is a small, manageable step toward better health.
5. Set time commitments. Pick a date and time to start. For example, Wednesday at breakfast, I’ll add frozen blueberries to cereal. Pick regular check-in dates: I’ll check my log every week and decide if I should make any changes in my routines to succeed. Find an outside deadline that will help keep you motivated. For example, signing up for a charity run or sprint triathlon on a certain date prods you to get a training program under way.”

This is exactly what I’ve been saying: making them specific and measurable.  I’ve set my New Year’s resolutions for Jan. 31. They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic.

For instance, I’ve set a target (I don’t do goals) of 5 min. a day on my Power Spin 210, and 2 shelves a day (cleaning reorganizing) in my office.  I’ve achieved, or over achieved today. Also I’m learning the Old Testament books, and I’m up to Ezra/Nehemiah, Esther.

Think summer

From 89 Life Hacks http://www.viralnova.com/awesome-life-hacks/

7 inches possible for Columbus

However, we rarely get the snow that is predicted.  My husband did the mail run for me this morning (from one UALC campus to the other) and said the side streets are very slick.  I stayed in and drank my own coffee instead of going out.

“The impending storm promises to be the biggest blizzard since a storm called Nemo paralyzed the northeast last February, and may work to bring the northeast corridor to a standstill. Late Wednesday, Boston mayor Tom Menino announced a full closure of city schools on Friday, a full 36 hours in advance. That city appears likely to take the brunt of the storm.” Daily Beast

Happy New Calendar

 

Thursday Thirteen—a list of wonderful, thoughtful gifts

1.  A terrific dinner for the family at our daughter’s home and many seasonal parties and concerts (see last week’s blog).

2.  Several gift cards to my favorite coffee spot.

3.  A “deco red” outfit of a paisley shirt and vest from Coldwater Creek.

4.  Box of fresh, luscious pears from Harry and David.

5.  A little cat pin with rhinestones and green eyes.

6.  A new watch with real numbers, and a face that lights up. Expansion band, silver and gold color.

7.  A pale turquoise sweater with a giant floral print scarf, and a booklet explaining how to drape and tie it.

8.  Gift card to our Friday night date favorite restaurant.

9.  Subscription to Salvo. (magazine)

10. Subscription to First Things (magazine)

11. Cable knit zip front cardigan from LL Bean (wrong color and size, new choice to be decided since the catalog was tossed out)

12. Cat coffee mugs, pottery, Asian look, one black, one white.

13. Beautiful Finnish glass candle holders.

Would you like to join the Thursday Thirteen meme?

It began with ARRA, which we were told was a “stimulus.”

Although today Jan. 1, 2014, is the starting date for the insurance, Obamacare actually started in 2009 with $19 billion in the ARRA stimulus. It didn't stimulate anything except the bottom line of electronic medical records companies. There is no research showing EMR will save money or improve health. We have it as a result of a huge lobbying effort. You've seen how even private companies (like Target) struggle with stolen records, even my research information at OSU was compromised--just wait until your medical information is stolen from a national database. In my recent stay in a local hospital, the EMR couldn't even make it 2 miles down the road to my doctor's office. http://www.anh-usa.org/your-medical-records-are-part-of-a-19-billion-experiment/

And despite these billions of dollars and the perceived benefits of EHRs, physicians continue to hesitate in implementing fully functional electronic health record (EHR) systems. Even with incentives, systems are expensive and productivity hits are a major concern, but the major cause? Unlike other highly specialized, specifically tailored health information technology solutions, EHRs are awkwardly, poorly designed to be one-size-fits-all—and studies show they never do. The incentive program is slowly drawing eligible healthcare practitioners into the EHR fold, but the lack of specifically tailored EHR systems means that the U.S. will continue to lag the rest of the world when it comes to establishing a fully integrated, cost-effective health care system.

http://www.talkchart.com/blog/index.php/why-is-ehr-adoption-lagging-behind/

Information such as social security numbers, addresses, medical insurance numbers, past illnesses, and sometimes credit card numbers, can help criminals commit several types of fraud. These may include: making payments from stolen credit card numbers and ordering and reselling medical equipment by using stolen medical insurance numbers.

A key finding from the report is that fraud resulting from exposure of health data has risen from 3% in 2008 to 7% in 2009, a 112% increase.

http://www.informationweek.com/security/risk-management/emr-data-theft-booming/d/d-id/1087881?

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1110507

Oops. It’s much worse than insurance experts thought

It  has become much, much worse than I [Greg Scandlen] ever imagined. Obamacare is not even fully in effect yet and already we are seeing the President playing with the carriers like a toddler plays with toy trucks –

• Employers will be mandated to buy your policies for 2014

• (Oops, employers are angry)

• Employers won’t be mandated until 2015 – if then

• Small employers will give workers a choice of health plans through the SHOP program in 2014

• (Oops, we can’t get the web site ready in time)

• Small employers won’t have to offer a choice of plan until – sometime later

• You must cancel these individual policies

• (Oops, public backlash)

• You must reinstate these policies

• (Oops, many insurance commissioners won’t allow it)

• You must continue to cover providers and drugs even for cancelled policies

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 15, 2013

• (Oops, web site problems)

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 23, 2013

• (Oops, too much traffic)

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 24, 2013

• Never mind, there is no deadline

• First month’s premium must be received by December 31, 2013

• (Oops, back-end problems with the web site)

• First month’s premium must be received by January 8, 2014

• Make that January 10, 2014

How can anyone run a business this way? This is worse than being a federal agency. No federal agency would be expected to stop and start on a personal whim like this. These aren’t rules, they aren’t regulations, they are dictates based on nothing more than Kathleen Sebelius’ momentary feelings.

http://thefederalist.com/2013/12/27/insurers-enough-obamacare-aca/

ARRA and Homelessness

“Under Title XII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is allocating $1.5 billion for communities to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized.” copied from the Franklin Co. Ohio web site.

I checked Hamilton Co. (Cincinnati) and Montgomery County (Dayton area) and found something similar.  In order to get these funds, substantial changes needed to be made to programs already in place.

I wonder what became of the $1.5 billion? I was able to locate the third year report for Springfield, Ohio, which received about $816,000, but there were so many lines of requested information with “no information,” I really couldn’t read it. In the reporting year ending 2012, 42 people were served, 21 households.  Near the end, the compiler said Springfield already had a good program that was working when it received the money.

Like many grants in ARRA it was late getting out of the gate (the recession was technically over) or didn’t do anything about the economy.  A huge chunk of ARRA  ($19 billion) went for Electronic Medical Records assistance to force doctors into a system that was untried and had never been proven to save money.

More New Year’s Resolutions possibilities

           

I was thinking maybe a good New Year’s resolution could be to clean one shelf a day, but I counted just my office and there were 32.  Some are behind cabinet doors, some on top of my desk, some are removable shelves on top of immovable shelves. Need to rethink this.  Perhaps my target was set too low. Three a day, perhaps. The last time there was a complete cleaning was when the office was repainted—maybe five years ago.  It had green and cream stripe wallpaper.  There was a partial cleaning in autumn 2012 when the carpeting was replaced and the desk and photo albums bookshelf had to be moved.

I think my 5 minutes a day on my Power Spin 210 will be about right. I’ve already completed and exceeded that resolution, at least for January 1.

                   

Joshua, Judges, Ruth

Honest. I didn't know this was the name of an album or a musical group. One of my New Year's Resolutions (which I've decided will only be good until Jan. 31) is to memorize the order of the books of the Old Testament. I probably didn't pay attention in Sunday School or Bible School when we were supposed to do this (I was too social). So all I knew were the first five. Today I added Joshua, Judges and Ruth, ". . . theological messages about the dynamic relationship between God's people and the powerful God who gives land and provides deliverers for the people."

Best wishes for the New Year

Arctic cyclones

“From 2000 to 2010, about 1,900 cyclones churned across the top of the world each year, leaving warm water and air in their wakes—and melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. That’s about 40 percent more than previously thought, according to a new analysis of these Arctic storms.”

Now this isn’t 40% more, although that’s how it will probably be reported, is my guess.  Researchers from Ohio State don’t know if that’s more or fewer cyclones than before, because they’ve only been measuring for 10 years.  Some they have discovered are very small, some in unpopulated areas and previously went undetected.

“We can’t yet tell if the number of cyclones is increasing or decreasing, because that would take a multidecade view. We do know that, since 2000, there have been a lot of rapid changes in the Arctic—Greenland ice melting, tundra thawing—so we can say that we’re capturing a good view of what’s happening in the Arctic during the current time of rapid changes,”

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/arcticcyclones.htm

The sands of time